Massachusetts Opens Delivery Licensing Exclusively to Social Equity Applicants

Massachusetts economic empowerment and social equity cannabis industry applicants can now apply for pre-certification and licensing for cannabis delivery operator licenses. Social equity and economic empowerment applicants will have exclusive access to the permits for at least three years.

Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) Executive Director Shawn Collins said the state’s delivery policies and procedures “will only bolster [the state’s] reputation as a role model for states looking to incorporate equity into cannabis legalization and ensure public safety.”

The licenses allow businesses to wholesale cannabis products from licensed cultivators and manufacturers, white-label, or affix the brand names retail dispensaries, and sell those products directly to consumers, among other functions, the agency said in a press release.

Delivery licensees will have to follow the commission’s typical testing, packaging, and labeling rules and will be required to comply with public safety regulations to warehouse inventory. Two licensed Marijuana Establishment Agents must be present in any vehicle used during deliveries and body cameras must be used when carrying out the delivery, the CCC said.

Under the regulations, delivery services will be available in municipalities that the licensees have identified as its place of business; municipalities that allow for adult-use sales or have informed the commission that delivery is allowed despite otherwise banning adult-use sales.

According to the CCC, there are more than 500 applicants eligible for the delivery licenses – 122 certified economic empowerments applicants and nearly 400 social equity program participants.